A teacher has lost his job in a Canadian school for making his pro-life stance known to students.

The teacher, at an unnamed private school in British Columbia, was accused of making pupils feel “unsafe”.

His dismissal has been criticised as breaching freedom of speech and described as an “extreme over-reaction”.

The teacher, who wishes to remain anonymous, had been explaining in his law lesson that in a democracy there is often a difference “between people’s private morality and the law”.

As an example, he said: “I find abortion to be wrong, but the law is often different from our personal opinions.”

After a break, several students failed to return to class and it emerged that one female pupil had gone to complain to a school administrator.

She said that she had been “triggered” and felt “unsafe”, reportedly adding that the teacher had no right to an opinion on abortion because he was a man.

National Post columnist Christie Blatchford broke the story.

The teacher told Blatchford that he was “summoned upstairs and grilled by two administrators” who advised him that his job “was on the line”.

The columnist went on to describe how, fearing he would lose his job, the teacher was forced to apologise to the girl in front of the class and his boss.

After being told what he “needed to do to change”, he apologised saying he liked her and that she was a ‘bright and engaging student’. In response, the pupil ran out of the class in tears.

The apology was deemed to be “too personal” and he was fired.

“It’s an atrocity. It’s way above and beyond common sense. They’ve taken away this guy’s freedoms. It’s a case of the PC agenda taken to its extreme,” said John Hof of United for Life British Columbia.